Something happened today when using Today’sMeet and 105 the Hive that I did not expect. Students not only shared what they know, but they shared what they don’t know.
On Friday, we have a quiz on number patterns and solving equations, and my teaching partner, Gina Bucciacchio, and I decided that we would host a radio show today to help students review for the quiz. Four students between our two classes volunteered to host the show. They were each given questions to discuss on the air, and while we met together twice to prepare, much of the preparation was done on their own time as well.
The hardest question by far was the last one on the review. While the small group of students discussed the answer, and one student agreed to share her thoughts on the radio, I could tell today that she was still trying to figure out what to say. We agreed to work through this question together. While talking about the question certainly helped her understand it, the incredible thing that I noticed was that many other students shared in the Today’sMeet Room that they still didn’t understand the question.
Thanks to Jersie for recording today’s radio show using the Livescribe Pen.
Usually students are hesitant to admit that they don’t know the answer. Rarely do I see students raise their hand in class and express that they are having difficulty. It’s different online though. There is almost an anonymity to this way of sharing that encourages all students to tell what they do know, and tell what they don’t. In the Scribd Story below, you’ll see that one student tried to help answer this question with some questions of her own, but it was still clear that many students were confused.
This Today’sMeet session helped inform my own practice by knowing what we still need to look at together. While I’ll definitely go over this problem in class as well, and answer any other questions that students have, I thought that I would make a pencast that attempts to explain the solution too. Hopefully this pencast will eliminate confusion and assist students that are still struggling.
A very special thank you to all of the Grade 6’s for willingly sharing your learning online, and helping me help you! Have other educators ever had an experience like this before? I hope that you’ll share your stories!
Aviva